Chronology

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1. Colonial and Regulator years · 1680–1774

2. 1748–1763
   Property or economic transaction · Orange County The Granville District land office grants the land that became Orange County

   The country on the Eno, Haw and Little River lay inside Earl Granville's one eighth share of Carolina, set off in 1742 and run from Edenton through agents including Francis Corbin and Thomas Child. Grants of unclaimed land were made from 1748 until Granville's death in 1763, and William Churton was the surveyor who mapped much of the district.

3. 1752–1766
   Storyline · 27 events · Hillsborough Creation of Orange County and Hillsborough

   The General Assembly created Orange County in 1752 from parts of Granville, Johnston and Bladen counties. William Churton laid out its county seat in 1754 where trading paths crossed the Eno. The town was called Orange, then Corbin Town, then Childsburgh from 1759, and took the name Hillsborough in 1766.

4. December 1752
   Appointment, election or service · Orange County William Churton presents his commission as public register

   At the December court, Lord Granville's surveyor William Churton showed the governor's commission naming him the county's public register, the office later called register of deeds. He went on to lay out the county seat.

5. 1754
   Founding or opening · Hillsborough Hillsborough is laid out

   William Churton laid out a town and common on a 400-acre tract on the north side of the Eno that was granted to him in 1754, where the trading path crossed the river. Known as Corbinton by 1755, it was incorporated as Childsburg by an act of the 1759–60 session and renamed Hillsborough in 1766.

6. 1755
   Construction or physical change · Hillsborough Alexander Mebane, Josiah Dixon and William Churton lay out Hillsborough's first prison

   Lot No. 1 in the town was set aside for the market house, courthouse, prison, pillory and stocks.

7. November 9, 1755
   Property or economic transaction · Hillsborough Herman Husband buys two town lots from William Churton

   Years before he became a Regulator leader, Herman Husband bought two lots in Corbinton from William Churton and built a house on them. He lived in the town only a few months.

8. 1759
   Founding or opening · Hillsborough The town on the Eno is incorporated as Childsburg

   The town William Churton had laid out in 1754 as Corbin Town or Corbinton was incorporated by act of assembly in 1759 as Childsburg, named for Thomas Child, the colony's attorney general. It was renamed Hillsborough in 1766.

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Compiled and maintained by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library from county records, the sources named on each card, and the index’s event pages. Last updated October 2, 2026.